Gear talk

[Roccus]

Just getting back in to ice fishing.

I’m working on a box that can stay in the car and be ready to go at anytime.

I need to figure out a good way to cut skis down to size.

I use a metal blade in grider to cut the metal and score the fiberglass, finish the job with a jig saw with a fiberglass cutting blade.

[SALMONEMIA]

Sorry I'm late to the party been very busy with home projects. Roccus finally got me motivated after a wellness check. Thanks Bud. I have ordered and received my  egg order but not 200 dollars worth. 
I got some new seagur Ice fluro, I will report its results later on. Also snagged a few new american made jigs from BP made in Minnesota I believe, they look good . Waxies and mousies next. All stocked up on hand and full insole foot warmers, had too many cold injuries as a kid I need them.  see you on the ice

[Hottuna5150]

Sorry I'm late to the party been very busy with home projects. Roccus finally got me motivated after a wellness check. Thanks Bud. I have ordered and received my  egg order but not 200 dollars worth. 
I got some new seagur Ice fluro, I will report its results later on. Also snagged a few new american made jigs from BP made in Minnesota I believe, they look good . Waxies and mousies next. All stocked up on hand and full insole foot warmers, had too many cold injuries as a kid I need them.  see you on the ice

Better late than never! Hope you have better luck finding mousies than I did.

[800stealth]

Better late than never! Hope you have better luck finding mousies than I did.

Mousies are a tough find this season for sure....

[SALMONEMIA]

Better late than never! Hope you have better luck finding mousies than I did.

ill let you know what I find

[Tony Thunder]

Ordered my mousies from bestbait, they had them in stock two days ago, also ordered up wax worms at the same time.
 The wife just ordered me a pair of Johnson wool pants, super excited to give them a go.  The new gear I’m dying to try this year though is the bobhouse

[800stealth]

Ordered my mousies from bestbait, they had them in stock two days ago, also ordered up wax worms at the same time.
 The wife just ordered me a pair of Johnson wool pants, super excited to give them a go.  The new gear I’m dying to try this year though is the bobhouse

Thanks for the heads up, just checked best bait... Mousies on the way.

[Hottuna5150]

Thanks for the heads up, just checked best bait... Mousies on the way.

X2 Thank you!

[Guinea]

I'm going to look at one more piece of gear tomorrow....it's a big one.

With low interest rates right now and the Tacoma paid off early, I'm looking at an SUV for a winter rig. I need a back up vehicle where I live anyway, and I find an SUV better for my gear hauling needs.

The first thing I'll do is open the hatch, put the back seats down, and make sure my gear will fit. Major selling point. 

[800stealth]

SUV is the way to go for an ice fishing rig, keep all your gear secure, dry and warm. My old Yukon has rear heat so I just aim all the rear vents right at my portable and by the time I get home it's dry. I also don't really unpack either unless I get some bird nests that need to be dealt with lol, I'm always packed and ready to go and since I only use it as a winter beater it also doubles as summer storage for the ice gear. Good luck!!

[GraniteStateJoe]

Over the last couple of years I have shifted from tip-ups to mostly jigging. I usually bring two heritage tip-ups with me to set up while I am at a spot, but not too many where it makes me not want to move regularly. I tend to do pretty well and end up with a mixed bag. My big addition this year is the panoptix set up from garmin which was a major upgrade from my ice35 flasher. Hoping this keeps me moving even more this year:) Also trying plastic micro baits for the first time, I just cannot remember to take my maggots out of the truck and the end up frozen every trip.

[Guinea]

SUV is the way to go for an ice fishing rig, keep all your gear secure, dry and warm. My old Yukon has rear heat so I just aim all the rear vents right at my portable and by the time I get home it's dry. I also don't really unpack either unless I get some bird nests that need to be dealt with lol, I'm always packed and ready to go and since I only use it as a winter beater it also doubles as summer storage for the ice gear. Good luck!!

Exactly! The truck is good for pond and stream hopping in the summer, but it lacks a lot for winter fishing. The other thing I like on an SUV is that if I just need my bucket of tip ups and a chisel, I can open a back door and grab it, not move everything in the bed out of the way to reach it.

Pretty sure I threw the salesman for a loop when I wanted to put down the back seats and look in the back before anything else lol. Once I saw the gear would fit, I moved on to considering the test drive lol.

[Mr.Harry]

Not much new gear for me besides some boots, but they qualify. Usually use two pairs depending on conditions - A pair of Rocky’s I’ve had forever in the coldest, snowy and/or ‘dry’ conditions, and a pair of Rubber hunter types for the slop. My last pair of slop boots were Irish Setters and they started cracking as I guess most rubber boots are want to do eventually. I got a few years out of them, but still seemed a premature end. Trying Alpha Burley 1600’s this time. Wore them in the woods a little over rifle season and they were great, but too early to tell on long term durability. On Roccus’ original post, I’m sold on the Big spool thing. Everything he said.

[Roccus]

Exactly! The truck is good for pond and stream hopping in the summer, but it lacks a lot for winter fishing. The other thing I like on an SUV is that if I just need my bucket of tip ups and a chisel, I can open a back door and grab it, not move everything in the bed out of the way to reach it.

Pretty sure I threw the salesman for a loop when I wanted to put down the back seats and look in the back before anything else lol. Once I saw the gear would fit, I moved on to considering the test drive lol.

Nice..having a dedicated vichle makes life simple..

[Roccus]

Not much new gear for me besides some boots, but they qualify. Usually use two pairs depending on conditions - A pair of Rocky’s I’ve had forever in the coldest, snowy and/or ‘dry’ conditions, and a pair of Rubber hunter types for the slop. My last pair of slop boots were Irish Setters and they started cracking as I guess most rubber boots are want to do eventually. I got a few years out of them, but still seemed a premature end. Trying Alpha Burley 1600’s this time. Wore them in the woods a little over rifle season and they were great, but too early to tell on long term durability. On Roccus’ original post, I’m sold on the Big spool thing. Everything he said.

Thanks for
Checking in, gear is gear, boots are important..nothing ruins a day on the ice faster than cold feet.

[Dickbakers]

Over the last couple of years I have shifted from tip-ups to mostly jigging. I usually bring two heritage tip-ups with me to set up while I am at a spot, but not too many where it makes me not want to move regularly. I tend to do pretty well and end up with a mixed bag. My big addition this year is the panoptix set up from garmin which was a major upgrade from my ice35 flasher. Hoping this keeps me moving even more this year:) Also trying plastic micro baits for the first time, I just cannot remember to take my maggots out of the truck and the end up frozen every trip.

[Dickbakers]

Over the last couple of years I have shifted from tip-ups to mostly jigging. I usually bring two heritage tip-ups with me to set up while I am at a spot, but not too many where it makes me not want to move regularly. I tend to do pretty well and end up with a mixed bag. My big addition this year is the panoptix set up from garmin which was a major upgrade from my ice35 flasher. Hoping this keeps me moving even more this year:) Also trying plastic micro baits for the first time, I just cannot 
   remember to take my maggots out of the truck and the end up frozen every trip.

Panoptix  tempts many.  But I can't imagine going from $400 Hummingbird to $1500 Garmin.  Panoptix is a lot more run with for someone who is jigging more to cut down on dragging gear?

[Roccus]

I run panoptix during the summer .. IMHO , it's a tad bit overated..

[AQUAASSASSIN]

I just got a new Ice Helix 5 with the GPS. I looked into it but the Oanoptix did nothing for me personally.

[Roccus]

I just got a new Ice Helix 5 with the GPS. I looked into it but the Oanoptix did nothing for me personally.

I tell ya Frank, I used it quite alot last season on the beach  and in the flats.. it left me wondering what the big deal was, I find the side scan, much more useful.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Agreed

[Roccus]

Agreed

The side scan is so accurate, I was able to find lobster  piots that cut off.. I freaking LOVE the side scan..

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Always like you are reading my mind Joe!

[DrummerManDrew]

I am interested in the helix models. Currently I’m using a lowrance model that I’m able to use on my little bass boat and it has a flasher function. It is a triple shot so I get the side scan imaging but not when I use it as a flasher. I can only get down scan imaging with a flasher simultaneously.

A bunch of my friend starting using hummingbird when they came out with the live imaging and then panoptix was a thing to go for... I haven’t really made up my mind just yet which direction I want to go. I figure when I’m ready for that bigger purchase I only want to make it once so I’ll give it a little more time. So it’s off with my little lowrance this year. Looks like ice is getting thicker.

I’ll be checking out Turtle pond this next week to see where the ice is at. Being new to the area, and this is closer to the house, it’s the first little exploration of my NH journey.

[Mascoma]

We ran the ice helix 5 last year for the first time. I highly recommend it for everything you'll need it for here in NH. Awesome unit.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

We ran the ice helix 5 last year for the first time. I highly recommend it for everything you'll need it for here in NH. Awesome unit.

Yeup!

[DrummerManDrew]

I took a close look at the G2 series and have a question. Are you able to use this unit as a traditional sonar system as well on a vessel with a different transducer?

After looking at the hook2 7x and the Helix 5 G2 and comparing them... I really didn’t see a difference. They both have all the great features of GPS, way points, mapping, live depth/temp and dual spectrum. The only thing I’m seeing between these two units currently is a debate over preference but both of the units look great! I wasn’t able to see what Hz the helix 5 run. I know the hook has 200/455/800kHz. Both of these units even have the same resolution.

I feel like I’m over looking something but do t know what it is

[AQUAASSASSIN]

G2 chirp gps

[Roccus]

I took a close look at the G2 series and have a question. Are you able to use this unit as a traditional sonar system as well on a vessel with a different transducer?

After looking at the hook2 7x and the Helix 5 G2 and comparing them... I really didn’t see a difference. They both have all the great features of GPS, way points, mapping, live depth/temp and dual spectrum. The only thing I’m seeing between these two units currently is a debate over preference but both of the units look great! I wasn’t able to see what Hz the helix 5 run. I know the hook has 200/455/800kHz. Both of these units even have the same resolution.

I feel like I’m over looking something but do t know what it is

I've owned 2 different hook 2 models, they have a lot of issues, i got rid of both of them and wend Wentworth Garmin 95 SV go with the hummingbird or Garmin..both are superior machines to the hook series.

[DrummerManDrew]

I’ll definitely take that into consideration when I’m ready to upgrade. Thanks for the feedback guys